The Electrical Storm
by My Conviction
Summary: AU, SanoChou bastardization of Saitou. Sanosuke leaves an abusive relationship and hopes to start something new with an old fling.
1. Chapter 1: Two Lovers

Notes: Originality points for us! Yahoo! Have fun with this... gonna be long and epic... you hath been warned!

Warnings: Different couples... really... it'll be shibby Saitou/Sano, Chou/Sano. Bastardization of Jime ;;

**The Electrical Storm**

By: Emmy and Erin

**Part One: Two Lovers**

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_The sea it swells like a sore head  
And the night, it is aching  
Two lovers lie with no sheets on their bed  
And the day it is breaking_

He laid there tangled in the fleshy limbs that were his lovers. It was nearly dawn, and he knew what he was going to have to do when dawn did arrive...

And he didn't want to do it.

With a deep breath in, his eyes glanced over to the clock and counted the seconds before the clock was going to beep, and wake them both up to reality.

Seven...

Six...

Five...

'Saitou... I love you...' Sanosuke thought in his head, running a hand absently over Saitou's strong arm.

Three

Two

One.

The alarm sounded, and Sanosuke cringed within, knowing that now there was no turning back.

Now all he had to do was wait for Saitou to leave for work.

The loose grip of the limbs tightened once before disappearing entirely as Saitou awoke. Bitterly, Sanosuke watched him stand, heading for the bathroom for his morning shower.

'You can't even show me you care at all, can you?'

His only response to the silent question was the bathroom door slamming shut, leaving him alone in the room that was a dim, grayish color.

As the sounds of running water reached him, Sanosuke pushed himself up from the bed, making sure to take one more look around the room as he grabbed his boxers and pants from the floor. He didn't want to leave anything behind in this room he didn't have to.

He wouldn't subject even the lowliest creature to the emotional torture that had been forced upon him in this room.

He couldn't wait to get out.

It was time... finally, after all these years, he was finally going to leave all this behind... finally he was going to be able to move on without anything more said about it.

He was going to be able to forget...

Forget about everything that he had been... that Saitou had been to him... that they had been together.

And what he had been to Saitou...

Which, he had a guess, wasn't that much.

I took a deep breath and clenched the bed sheet that was on the top one last time.

He wasn't going to look back.

Not this time... not any other time.

This was the end, and there wasn't going to be a sequel. Just him and a new life...

A new life without Saitou...

The thought made his heart pound, and a smile come to his face. Why did it sound so perfect, and so far away...? But it really wasn't... not anymore... this was it. This was the thing that he was going to wait for.

He had lost track of time before Saitou walked out of the bathroom, a towel tied around his waist and nothing much. Sanosuke's eyes looked over the body of his lover for the last time. Yes -- the last time. And what a glance it was. He was never going to deny how attractive the man was, but attraction was only skin deep. This was it.

"Ahou." The man began, addressing the roosterhead with his clothes in a bundle on his lap.

"Yeah?"

He sounded bitter. But Saitou had gotten used to it. It as a bitter tone that Sanosuke had been taking a lot quite recently, it wasn't anything different.

"I'll be home late tonight. Clean the kitchen for me before I get home."

Sanosuke didn't say anything. He just waited for the other man to leave.

To leave, and this time, never see again.

Saitou wordlessly left, pulling on his daily police uniform, and then walked out to the kitchen right before he left.

"Sure." Was Sanosuke small response after the man had left.

He looked around the room, blankly, at the empty home. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

The boy took a few more steps onto the carpet and then, undaunted, continued back into their bedroom to find a few more hours of sleep, entranced in the scent of the man he loved with every once of his being. He wanted to try to make believe the fantasy one last time, before he left it all behind forever.

The time had passed in a blur and before he knew it, he had taken his car and driven away. Where to, he wasn't sure yet, but he knew that he needed to get away. He turned his cell phone off, just incase Saitou needed to get a hold of him. He was scared that one kind word would turn him back, and wrap himself in the same web that he had recently escaped.

He tapped his fingers strongly on the steering wheel, listening to the radio, and trying to get his mind elsewhere. As he thought before, he didn't have anywhere to go, but he could think of a place or two that might just tolerate his presence.

After Saitou, he had basically broken all ties to his friends and family, brainwashed through obsession and masochism.

He continued his drive for Tokyo, needing to see some familiar faces as an antidote to all the pain he was feeling. He needed it...

There was one person in particular that he thought he could go to, but he didn't want to take any chances. He'd been pretty pissed the last time Sanosuke had talked to him, and he didn't think time would have done anything to disperse some of that anger.

But then again, he was the only one Sanosuke could think of off the top of his head that could possibly understand what Sanosuke was going through.

After all, he use to work with Saitou.

/Used to/ being the key phrase. Everything was in the past. And that's the way it was going to be forever. His mind was swirling, looking out to the road and the empty morning roads.

That's what he was going to do. He was going to tell him that he knew he had made a mistake, and he was correcting it now, and wanted to come back. Yes, come back to him.

Come back to the man he had left for Saitou... the biggest manipulative bastard in the world that couldn't love another thing in the world if his life depended on it. The icy, statue of a man that did nothing but sleep, work, smoke and abuse Sano was the reason he left the only good thing in his life.

Chou Sawageijou.

Full of life, full of love. The complete opposite of Saitou. And that's exactly what he needed.

It was going to take a week to get there, and all the money he had left. He just hoped that Chou was going to forgive him.

Sanosuke drove throughout the night, stopping only once to get gas and some coffee. He knew he should stop, his eyes were so heavy he felt as if he couldn't go a minute longer without shutting his eyes. Slowly, his eyes slid shut. It would only be for a minute...

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The next thing Sanosuke saw was that of an officer in blue, leaning over him. Sanosuke's first thought was of Saitou, and went to pull away, but as he did he found the pain too intense to move more than a centimeter or two.

"...What happened?" he rasped out, throat almost to dry to speak.

The cop smiled down at him, and Sanosuke knew it wasn't Saitou or anyone related to him in any means. "You fell asleep while you were driving and got into a pretty bad wreck. You've been out three days." The cop's smile left and he looked at Sanosuke in concern. "Is there anyone we can call for you? A girlfriend, brother, sister or something?"

Sanosuke blinked heavily as he took a few moments to think. His mind hadn't ben working right to begin with, but now the fact that he actually had for form a coherent sentence was unthinkable. He rolled away, trying to make this mouth work the way he wanted it to. He was never going to say the name Saitou again, that was completely out of the question. It was a surprise the man hadn't already tracked him down and beaten the shit out of him already.

Miracles do happen...

"A name, son? Someone to come and take care of you?" The man pressed.

Sanosuke cleared his throat again, it might have been an unpleasant invitation, but one that could not be refused. 

"C-Chou Sawageijou..."

The man nodded, writing the name down on the paper. "Do you have a number off the top of your head? If not, no sweat, we can look it up for you. The only other thing we need is relation..."

Sanosuke frowned for a moment, "Cousin."

"Ok, we'll get your cousin here as soon as he can. You rest easy." He smiled at Sanosuke once again before he left, leaving the boy in the care of the nurses.

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"Hello?" He said into the phone, picking it up at his desk.

"Mr. Chou Sawageijou?"

"Yeah?" he drawled. "What do you want?"

"Well, we'd like you to come and pick up your cousin from the hospital over here. He was in a pretty bad accident..."

Chou's brow furrowed as he thought. "My cousin? I don't have a male cousin. What'd ya say his name was again?"

"Sanosuke Sagara. He's the one that ga--"

"I'll be right there."

-----------------

"Sanosuke?" A voice came.

Sanosuke's eyes batted open again as he heard he voice of the doctor.

"What's up, doc?"

"You have a visitor, we'll be sending you home with him today as well, with a few prescriptions for the pain. You need to rest until you have your check up in a month to get the cast off your leg. Mr. Sawageijou will take you home now, Sanosuke. Take the medicine three times daily and call us if it gets any worse. No driving, either. Let your cousin take care of everything for you, all right?" The doctor stated, giving him a few pieces of paper for the prescription.

Sanosuke's eyes never left the doctor, even though he knew someone else was in the room. He was actually afraid, he though that Chou might be angry that this was the way that they met after so many years.

"Thank you..." Sanosuke stated and took the paper, the nurse pulling out the IV and patching it up. His eyes still had not looked around to see Chou. He was afraid of how the man would be looking at him. But he had to face the music sometime...

He looked over cautiously and gave the blonde a small smile. Chou looked different from before. His hair, instead of the full-headed Mohawk had been cut, but not tamed into a spiked cut all the way around his head. He looked different, but in a good way.

"So... how about those Pistons?" I asked with a grin, looking at the other man. I had to break this silence somehow, this was seriously fucking getting to me. Usually, when the two of us go together you couldn't shut us up, but these were only... very different circumstances.

"Eh. Never really cared much for American teams. You know that." I chuckled, showing me what looked to be a smile. He really gave that to me after all this time. In-fucking-credible. You really were too good to me, Chou.

"Well, you little fucker. How did you do it this time?" Chou asked me, leaning in a little closer.

My eyes widened as I locked my gaze with him. "How I...?"

"Accident. Ya know, the thing that with the car and the falling asleep while going 90 on the express way. That little thing?"

"How did I crash?"

"No, how the fuck did you stay alive? You superman or something?"

I chuckled, even though it hurt my sides. "Yeah, ya know. Man of steel. Dick and all."

"Oh, don't I know." He laughed.

This was insane... he wasn't only talking to me... he was giving a shit. I couldn't believe it. It was like I had never left, it was like all that time had never passed. I didn't quite know what to make of it all, all I could think was that he was either really drunk, sedated or messed up in the head. No one is this nice to someone who left them for someone else and only comes crawling back when they're too fucked up to go anywhere else.

I didn't really know what to say, and neither did Chou, it seemed, and we fell into an akward silence. It seems Chou could deal with the joking, but not with the actual talking.

We just sat there for a few minutes until he finally said something. "What did you fuck up on yourself this time?"

I smirked. "Not the right things. I think they said I got a pretty bad concussion, cracked an orbital bone, bruised my ribs up, punctured a lung and and a piece of metal sliced straight through my Achilles' Tendon."

"Damn, you did fuck yourself up."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I have no idea what I'm going to do now." I sighed and looked over to him.

He took a minute or two to look up, he looked like he was in actual, visible pain. I had no idea what it was, until he opened his mouth, but those four words explained everything to me, more than one time over.

"What happened to Saitou?"

My breath caught in my lungs and I shook my head. "I left him. For good. Couldn't take it anymore... and I... really. Really. Really missed you." I let myself give Chou a weak smile. I knew that was the last thing he wanted to talk about. It was the last thing I wanted to talk about, but there wasn't a thing that we could do about it. Saitou was... a painful part of our lives. The thing that fucked them up.

"Took you three years to realize that?"

"What can I say. I'm a dumb fuck."

He laughed again and smiled. "So what were you doing all the way down here? I didn't know you had any reason to come down here."

I looked at the bed when I answered. "Actually, I was coming to look for you. I was thinking that we could maybe try it again, you know." He didn't say anything at first and I looked down at my fucked up, bandaged body and laughed. "But I can see why you wouldn't want to, with me being so fucked in the head and now being so messed up in the body too."

I didn't look up, couldn't look up. I didn't want to see his face when he told me 'hell no, you wasted your chance.'

"C'mon. Let's head home, rooster. It's about time that we got to head back together. Most things are the way you left it, but we need to reintroduce you to the other shit, all right? You need to hurry up and feel better soon too, we'll get you right to work!" He chuckled, raising his hand to my forehead with a smirk.

My eyes lit up. Was he serious? He couldn't be...

"Chou?"

"What's up?"

I shook my head and just couldn't stop smiling.

"Nothing, you're just great, broom."

"Hell, ya can't call me that anymore! I don't look like no broom! I'm going to go check ya out and grab some fun drugs for you, little buddy."

"Sounds good to me." I commented as Chou exited the room. I just sat there with a small grin on my face.

"Ya damn urchin."

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End of part


	2. Chapter 2: Rainy Days

Warnings: Different couples... really... Saitou/Sano, Chou/Sano. Bastardization of Jime ;

**The Electrical Storm**

By: Emmy and Erin

**Part Two: Rainy Days**

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On rainy days we'd go swimming out On rainy days, swimming in the sound On rainy days we'd go swimming out

For Sanosuke, walking, or rather limping, into Chou's apartment brought forth different reactions. It was a different setting in a different time but Sanosuke could still tell that Chou still lived there. Sanosuke hadn't been to Chou's home in a long time, but it still seemed familiar to him, almost as if he'd only been gone a week or two, not for the years that had actually passed.

"You okay?" Chou asked Sanosuke from where he stood behind him, holding open the door for the crippled man. Sanosuke shook his head and snapped himself out of his thoughts. He turned his head and gave Chou a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Chou flashed a crooked grin. "Damn, sounds dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah. Harass the poor cripple," muttered Sanosuke as he slowly made his way on his crutches into the apartment. Behind him he heard Chou laugh and it brightened his spirits a little. Sure, he hurt like hell, but at least some one was amused by it.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I really don't have a really good spot for you, it's actually you're typical bachelor pad... so messy as hell. Just because you're so damn broken up I'll let you have my bed, and I'll take the couch, but as soon as you can walk without a crutch like me, fuck, are we gonna trade as fast as you can blink!" He laughed as he led me into his room.

Sanosuke looked around and shrugged, "Not bad. Man, why don't you just share with me? I don't snore that bad. It's not like it's not something we haven't done before..." he trailed off once he realized just what he said, and then instantly regretted it. He didn't want to start things off like this, and he didn't want him to be pissed off...

"This is true." As Chou began, he sounded a little bitter, but then as the two continued, he just started to shake it off. Sanosuke wondered why was he being so... agreeably nice. "But I don't think I could take it. You're a bed hog, and over the years, that's the way that I've been going, so I don't think I could really deal with fights in the middle of the night over the bed."

Sanosuke nodded, seeing the sense in what Chou said.

"Besides, with you bein' hurt and all, it probably wouldn't be the best idea for us ta be fighin' in the middle of the night. Ya might re-injure yourself or somethin'."

"Yeah, you're probably right, Chou," agreed Sanosuke. He really did understand where Chou was coming from but it seemed a little weird to him that Chou had somehow found a perfectly feasible way out of talking about their past, almost as if he were afraid of talking about it. But as soon as the thought appeared he pushed it away. Chou wasn't afraid of anything, much less talking.

"So, brat, how're you feeling? Ya want something to eat or do you just want to go to sleep? The doc said the pain killers would make ya pretty sleepy and loopy for a while."

Sanosuke paused and thought about it for a minute. He did want to sleep, but he also wanted to talk to Chou. "I could do with something to eat before I go to sleep, if you don't mind," he admitted.

"Naw, it's not a problem. Why don'tcha head over to the couch and I'll go see what I have in the kitchen. Is there anything you don't want?"

"Yeah, soba. I'll eat anything but soba."

"Even a corndog?" asked Chou with a playful grin.

"Fuck you, man."

"Heh, still the only thing on your mind? Aren't you gonna buy me a beer first? Or how about dinner and a movie? I'm not that easy." He chuckled as he walked away and Sanosuke hobbled to the couch. Sanosuke could still hear him, the place wasn't very big, so it was rather easy to get around and be in constant contact with Chou.

For some reason, Sano was very comfortable with that thought and smiled to himself slightly as he thought about it. "Nah, not interested in the fucking right now, but I tell you what, I wouldn't mind some cuddling." I laughed right back.

"Cuddling? Damn, you're really that fucking needy? Heh."

"Meh, just need something to hold onto... like that when I'm in pain."

"Yeah, I know. That was something that I always noticed about you. Always the buddy-buddy, touchy-feely person. How does some ramen sound?"

"Damn, Chou, don't ya have anything else? Or are ya on the college diet, still?"

"Hey, just because I'm poor doesn't mean that I don't care! If you want some gourmet food, I can heat ya up a TV dinner."

"Oh, how gracious." Sanosuke chuckled and rolled around a little, wincing as he did so. "I think I'll stick with whatever food you have less contact with."

In the kitchen Chou laughed and Sanosuke thought how odd it was. He hadn't heard Saitou laugh in so long, and suddenly he was back here with Chou, making him laugh without meaning too.

"Hey, I'll have you know that my cooking skills have improved tremendously since you last saw me. In fact, I can now make tea all by myself."

Sanosuke laughed once more. Chou really was a funny man when he was relaxed and he finally seemed to be relaxed around his former lover.

"Yeah, sounds like a big accomplishment, Chou. Really, it does."

"Glad to please ya," said Chou as he walked from the kitchen carrying a steaming, unhealthy looking TV dinner. "Here ya go. What can I getcha ta drink?"

Sanosuke shrugged and took the food. "Water sounds like it'd be pretty good, actually."

"I heard that being hydrated was a good thing... nice choice." He chuckled and disappeared for another moment, coming back with a tall glass of water. He set it down on the small coffee table he had in front of Sano.

The man took his fork and began to poke at the food, but then turned his attention back to Chou.

"Hey, are you going to eat, or what?" Sanosuke asked with a concerned face.

"Nah, not right now. I wanna concentrate on making sure you don't choke to death or something. I'm your babysitter now, I'm gonna do my job and take care of you!" He said, and off-handedly took a sip of Sano's water.

The injured man shrugged. "I don't wanna keep you from eating... and you know that I always enjoy it more when you eat with me, anyways. Why don't ya want to?"

This time it was Chou who shrugged. "I don't know. Just not very hungry right now." He leaned forward, this time a little more serious. "I don't know if you want to answer this just yet, so let me know when it's OK... but what happened with things between you and Saitou?"

Sanosuke froze at the name. It didn't seem as bad in his head, but as soon as Chou spoke it, it froze Sano up. Sanosuke didn't know what to say... but he at least owed him and answer...

"Things just didn't work out."

"Took you five years to figure that out?" He sounded angry and Sano could see why. He had left Chou for Saitou, left him for what had to be the biggest asshole on the planet. Sano suppose if he were him he'd be pretty pissed too.

"Yeah, five years. I don't know. It was good at first, it really was. But then he just stopped being the guy I got together with and he became the guy you use to work with. He was just such an asshole. And I could take it for a while. I wasn't all that happy, but it wasn't like I was miserable either."

Sano poked at his food and Chou took another sip of his water, not saying anything. "And then, a coupla months ago he got really cruel. He'd hurt me as much as he could during sex and then he wouldn't talk to me at all. It was like I was some whore he hired for the night. That seemed to be the only time he'd notice me."

"That musta sucked."

"Yeah, it did."

"And still, you stuck it out with him, huh? Got a masochistic side to ya, rooster head?" Chou sneered. "Shit, I don't know if you're devoted, or just a chicken."

"Hell, I don't know either, but finally I knew that enough was enough, and so I ended it. He won't do anything about it, though, he probably doesn't even fucking care. Man, all he's probably wondering about is why his dick is hard and it's not going away."

"Heh, don't degrade yourself too much. He was probably at least wondering where the noise ran off to." Chou laughed, and I just rolled my shoulder.

"Hate to think about it, but yer right…"

Chou noticed that it was probably time to change the subject before anything got too sore. Now that they both knew it wasn't a taboo, they could just as easily come back to it later. Chou laughed and nodded towards a piece of paper, "So, when you get this fun drugs, ya gonna share?"

"As long as we don't get high enough to burn the house down!"

"Sounds like a plan! Ya gonna be all right for a while so I can get along and pick these up?"

Sanosuke nodded and stifled a yawn. "Yeah, I think so. I'll probably just fall asleep anyways. I'm really tired all of a sudden.."

Chou nodded and dropped an extra blanket around Sanosuke. "Well, I'll leave the phone next to you. My cell's programmed in as the first number, so just hit that if you need anything."

"'Kay," Sanosuke mumbled, already starting to fall asleep. Chou laughed to himself and set the phone next to Sanosuke's head before he left.

The drive to the pharmacy wasn't too bad, but the line at the counter was ridiculously long. Impatient, Chou stood in the line, arms crossed across his chest.

"Sawagejou? What are you doing here?" A voice asked from behind the blonde. Chou turned around and immediately recognized the chief of police.

"Hey, sir. Just picking up a prescription for a friend of mine."

The chief, who Chou had known for quite a long time, smiled in understanding. "Ah. That's nice of you. I'm here getting some medication for my youngest. He's got strep throat again. What's wrong with your friend?"

Chou gave a little half smile. "Nothin' so simple as that. He got in a pretty bad wreck and I'm getting him some stuff for the pain."

The chief nodded in understanding and the two fell into silence, the line slowly moving forward.

When there was only one more person in front of him, Chou remembered something. "Hey, chief? Think it'd be a problem if I took the next week or two off? My friend can't really take care of himself, he's pretty banged up."

The chief smiled in understanding. "I don't think that'll be too much of a problem."

"Thanks."

"Can I help you, sir?" The pharmacist called to Chou.

The blonde stepped up to the counter and put Sanosuke's slip on the counter. "Yeah, I'm here to get Sanosuke Sagara's medication."

"Just a minute," the clerk said as she turned and riffled through the drawers.

"Sawagejou, did you just say Sanosuke Sagara?" The chief asked from behind Chou, worry coloring his voice.

Chou looked over his shoulder for a moment, "Yeah, I did. He's my accident-prone friend."

The chief hesitated, wondering to himself about whether or not it was wise to bring up what he was thinking. He dismissed it, too curious and concerned to keep it in any longer.

"Are… you talking about a former officer's Sagara?" That was as nonchalantly as he could think to put it.

Chou inwardly cringed. "Yes. It is."

"Why is he here, then?"

"They… split up and while he was driving up here he had his accident." Chou was trying hard to make it as brief as possible.

"They spilt up? Is that true?"

Chou was beginning to get annoyed with the conversation. He could deal with it when he was talking to Sanosuke about the boy's former lover, but when it came to another man where he didn't have obligation, he was irritable. "Sanosuke broke it off."

"If that wise, Chou?"

He gritted his teeth as the woman slowly came back with the medication in her hands. "I don't care if it's wise. The man's a fucktard and Sanosuke finally got out of something that he should have a long time ago."

The woman couldn't get there fast enough as Chou reached out and snatched the bag out of her hands. "Look, I've gotta get going. He needs this shit, so I need to get it to him. I don't really want to stand here and talk about this. I've too much shit to take care of. So if you'll just get me that time off, I'd really fucking appreciate it."

With that Chou stalked away, the crowd realizing his was in a bad mood and getting out of his way quickly.

He didn't stop walking until he got into his car. Throwing the medicine on the seat next to him, he slammed his fist into the dashboard.

"Why the fuck can't people just leave me the hell alone?!" He growled to himself as he started the car. He was just pulling out of the parking lot when he cell phone rang. Cursing again, he fumbled for the phone, finally managing to get a hold of it.

"Yeah?" He snapped, frustrated with everything that was happening.

"Chou?"

"Sano? Are you okay?"

"Uh, I was just wondering if you had any gauze? I managed to hit my head on the table next to your bed and my forehead's bleeding pretty bad."

"Did you tear yer stitches?" Chou asked worriedly.

"No, I just made them bleed."

Chou rolled his eyes. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"I know… um, but yeah…"

"Don't get up, you won't be able to make it to the bathroom with friggen broken bones and a bleeding head, all right? Just… take a pillowcase off the pillow and press it to your head. I'm about three minutes from being home, I told you that I was going to take care of you, remember?" Chou said, wanting to make a face.

"Yeah… can you please hurry? I don't mean to rush you, but, yeah, it's bleeding pretty bad and I'm feeling hella dizzy…" His voice was almost fading in and out.

Chou nodded. "I'm gonna go as fast as I can."

Chou abruptly grabbed a handful of the bag and ran to his building. He ran up the steps, keeping up a pace of three at a time and swiftly unlocked and opened the door.

"Hey, I'm here, rooster, ya not dead on me, are ya?"

He heard a loud groan coming from the couch, "Nah… not yet."

"Good to hear," Chou replied and quickly rounded the couch, laughing as he saw the rooster. "Damn. You did fuck yourself up."

He was trying to cover up just how worried he was. There was a lot of blood… it was practically soaking the pillow case. It hadn't even slowed the bleeding.

"Sorry I redded all over…"

"Um, I don't think that's a word… but at least it's not like you shit yourself on my couch. Besides, head wounds bleed like a bitch, I think you're gonna make it." Chou dropped the medicine off next to Sanosuke and picked up speed to grab the gauze that the rooster had asked for. He rummaged through his cabinets and grabbed a few wads full. He had gotten into his fair share of gauze-worthy accidents on the force, so his supply was plenty.

"Hey, we're gonna play doctor now, man, so you're gonna have to sit up."

Sanosuke grumbled, "Then where is your sexy nurse outfit?"

"Drycleaners, sorry 'bout that."

Sanosuke laughed. "Well, I guess that's okay. Wouldn't want to get it all bloody anyways."

"Nah, probably not." Chou joked as he pulled the pillow away from Sanosuke's face. The brunette winced, but didn't say anything.

"Damn," Chou winced as he looked at the cut. "You really did do a number on yourself. You didn't tear your stiches, but you pulled 'em pretty bad." He grabbed some of the gauze from the table and looked at Sanosuke in pity. "This is probably gonna hurt."

Sanosuke laughed. "Somehow I didn't expect anything different."

"Yeah, you always have been hella accident prone, man. Do you remember that one time that you, me, Saitou and Murai went out for a burger on a break one time that you showed up? And you totally nearly got hit by the subway because you lost your balance on the edge?"

"How could I not?! That was one of my nine lives!"

Chou laughed and continued to wrap the gauze over the wound. "Ah, so you're a cat now? That's hot. But I'm not into bestiality. Sorry, man."

Sanosuke looked offended, and gave a cute pout, "But I'm a sex kitten…"

Chou flicked Sanosuke in the cheek and finished up the gauze. Before he drew away, he noticed that the man was feeling a little warm.

"Hey, man, you might have a fever."

Sanosuke looked hesitantly away. "Isn't there some kind medicine in there?"

Chou nodded, "I'm sure the pain killers are some kind of fever reducer, no problem."

Sanosuke just kept looking at the man, not turning away. "Hey, Chou?"

The man was fiddling with the bag full of medicine for a moment, looking around as he talked to Sanosuke, while trying to read through the labels. "What's up?"

"Come here."

Chou turned around to face him. "Yeah?"

Sanosuke leaned in and tenderly kissed a startled man, trying his hardest to balance himself on the couch without falling over. His lips were soft, almost as soft as the kiss was completely unexpected. What was he doing?

The brunette pulled away and fell back down to the bed. "Chou… thank you."

Chou blinked as the man closed his eyes, and fell fast asleep. He must have lost too much blood. Chou just hoped that the kiss wasn't brought on by the amnesia-esque state and it meant something. He wasn't going to be led on again…

That was something that he promised himself.

End of part


	3. Chapter 3: Some Way Back

**The Electrical Storm**

By: Emmy and Erin

**Part Three - Some Way Back**

_You're in my mind_

_All of the time_

_I know that's not enough_

_If the sky can crack_

_There must be some way back_

_For love and only love_

The house was silent when Saitou entered it. There was no quiet murmur from the television, no sound of static from the radio that didn't work. There was dead silence, and it set Saitou's nerves on edge. His house was never quiet, there was always the sound of Sanosuke complaining or throwing a fit. Even when he was sleeping he still made noise.

For it to be this quiet there had to be something wrong.

But Saitou was never one to let any of his emotions show. So he didn't vary from his usual routine as he searched for the reason for the quiet. He carefully hung his coat up and set his briefcase down, heading into the kitchen to get himself a drink of water. There was no sign of the usual sea of dirty dishes that littered the sink and for a moment, Saitou felt a brief stab of panic. But it was gone almost before he could realize what it was.

He had been gone from his home on a business trip for a while. A homicide that matched a serial killer his district had been tracking was in a neighboring city. His small group was called in immediately, and the job was intense. He hadn't had the time to call home. He figured that it wouldn't even matter, since he couldn't get rid of the boy if he tried.

Obviously he was wrong.

He shuffled around; looking for an indication of the last time to boy was there. If he was out getting stoned or drunk, he could have left a day ago and there wasn't a second thought that the man would get home soon.

He searched the garbage can -maybe the lack of dishes was due to take out and paper-plates. Sanosuke also had a habit of eating right out of the box or can. But nothing was there either…

Once a month, Saitou paid a house cleaner to come in and do the chores around the house when Saitou was out on business, but the last time that she would have come in would have been the day he left on the trip, on Tuesday. It was now Sunday.

He shrugged his shoulders. It didn't matter anyway. Sanosuke would come back like he always did, regardless of what shit he was pulling out on the streets right now. Nothing to worry about at all.

---------------

Sanosuke scowled as he rolled over, the medicine wearing off in the middle of the night, causing him to wake up due to the pain. He looked around to see if he could catch the red glow of a clock.

4:20.

Well, six hours had gone by since he took his last dosage. That would make sense… He looked at the table and frowned as he noticed that no medicine was set out for him. But of course, it wouldn't have been likely that he would have woken up like this. He rolled around again, just to see if he could get up by himself.

He yelped in pain as soon as he pressed down his ankle to the floor.

A door opened quickly at the other end of the hall, and a groggy man came out, dressed in only a pair of boxers. "Sano, you all right?"

Sanosuke immediately forgot about the pain as he stared at the sight in front of him. Chou was standing there, staring back at him with concern in his eyes. But all Sanosuke could think about was the fact that Chou was wearing nothing but this boxers. He'd forgotten how nice of a body Chou had.

"Sano? Sano? You okay?" Chou asked again, more than a little worried by the dazed look in Sanosuke's eyes. The younger man blinked once or twice and then seemed to come back to himself.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry to wake you up."

Chou took a step or two closer. "You sure? I thought I heard you yelp. And what the hell are you doing up so goddamn early anyways? It's not even four-thirty yet."

Sanosuke blushed a little in the predawn light. "Yeah, sorry about that. The medication wore off and I was gonna get up and get some." He looked down at his ankle ruefully. "I kinda forgot about my damned ankle, though."

Chou couldn't help but laugh. "You damn rooster-head. You coulda just yelled at me, ya know. You didn't need to try and get the damn pills yourself."

"First of all, I am not a rooster-head!" Sanosuke shot back, looking surprisingly like a bird whose had its feathers ruffled the wrong way. "And second, I feel like a goddamn moron if I can't even get my own medicine, broom."

"Ah, ah, ah," Chou chided with a shake of his head. "That doesn't work anymore since I cut my hair, rooster."

Chou disappeared out of sight for a moment, but Sanosuke's eyes followed his ass until it was out of sight. _Well, shit_, Sanosuke thought, _there must be some kinda aphrodisiac in this medicine. _

But even he couldn't deny that he was attracted to Chou. There were a few times, a few hot nights that he would never forget, that made him wonder back to why he decided to move with that job that Saitou had gotten. The world was fucked up, and so had he been also at the time.

Sanosuke fell back onto the couch with a large heave. Now he was going to be lusting after Chou and there wouldn't be a thing that he could do about it.

"Here we go, man, some more of the best shit in the world." Chou said, sitting down next to Sanosuke with a glass of water, a few crackers, and the pills. "Can't take this on an empty stomach either, man, just take these, I'm sure that this'll work."

The boy watched the older man for a moment before taking the crackers into his hands. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Chou's body, and couldn't keep his thoughts clean. He unwrapped the cracker bag and began to chew on it.

"Chou, I wanna bone you so bad right now."

Sanosuke immediately slapped his hands over his mouth, jamming the cracker down his throat in the process. He proceeded to cough violently.

Chou raised an eyebrow in response.

He just stared at Sanosuke for a long moment, keeping his smile hidden as Sanosuke's face flushed pink. After a long moment he shook his head and stood back up.

"I think those drugs are messing with your head, rooster. Now come on, I think you need to get your ass back to bed and get some sleep before you say something else you'll regret later."

Sanosuke had to bite his tongue to keep from saying that he didn't regret what he had said.

"Yeah, maybe I should. When this medicine kicks in, I don't think I'll be able to walk any where."

Chou frowned and kneeled down next to the injured man. "Really? I'll sleep over there in the chair so if you need anything you can just holler at me."

Sanosuke shook his head. "But that's gonna be uncomfortable, Chou. You go back to sleep, I'll be fine."

"Hell no. I'm staying out here. If you bang your head again, you ain't gonna be in any shape to get up and get me. I'm sleeping out here and that's final."

Sanosuke chewed a little more on his bottom lip as he looked at Chou. When the blonde has his mind set on something, there wasn't a thing that could change his mind. Sanosuke knew that much, so there wasn't a damn point in arguing.

"Hey, thanks for doing this for me, Chou. You're the best."

"Yeah, I know." He chuckled, moving around in the chair to get comfortable. "Now, you have to be strong enough to yell at me to wake me up, this that a deal?"

Sanosuke didn't reply, he just nodded with a small smile in his face. He didn't waste another minute, the sooner he could get to sleep, the sooner he could stop saying ridiculous things to Chou that would fuck up his relationship with the man any further. Hopefully he would be better tomorrow.

---------------------------

The night was restless, with constant wet dreams and what-ifs that filled Sanosuke's head as the medicine warped his mind and amplified the concerns in his brain. Chou was there, right next to him, but nothing could force him to awaken the other man in the random spells he had during the night. But as his last spell of heat, desire, and muffled pain hit him, it was morning and Chou wasn't there next to him. He woke up with a start and sat up on the bed rapidly, his body aching, but he wanted to see the other man.

"Hey, hey, relax, buddy! You had a tough night, you should still be relaxing!" Chou shouted from the kitchen, cooking something on a griddle.

"How do you know that I couldn't sleep very well?" Sanosuke asked, grabbing the crutches and hobbling his way to the living room. He raised an eyebrow as he fell onto the couch.

"C'mon, even the neighbors could hear the mix of groans between pain and orgasm, you douche. Pretty erotic, if I do say so myself." Chou shouted over to the other man with a hearty chuckle, "Has anyone ever told you that you'd be good in porns?"

Sanosuke felt his face heat up and he used the pillow to cover it up.

"You mean you heard me last night?"

Chou laughed again. "I think we already established that, buddy. So what had you so horny?"

"You don't want to know," returned Sanosuke, pillow still over his face. He was already mortified and he didn't want to make it worse by telling Chou that he was the person he'd been dreaming about.

"C'mon, buddy. We need to talk about somethin' while I make breakfast."

"Not about that!" Yelled Sanosuke as he finally removed the pillow from his face. "You don't want to know, trust me."

Chou rolled his eyes as he walked towards Sanosuke, glass of water and pain medication in hand. "Why? Think yer sick little fantasies about Saitou are gonna make me sick?"

Sanosuke suddenly wished he hadn't removed the pillow from his face. "It's not that."

"Then what is it? Hey, stop looking at the wall and take the meds."

The brunette took the pills and quickly downed them. "I wasn't dreaming about Saitou," he mumbled.

Chou raised an eyebrow. "Then who were you dreaming about?"

The flush returned to Sanosuke's face full force. "You," he blurted out, wishing he were someplace else.

"Oh. That _is_ different."

"Goddamnit, Chou, I didn't want to tell you!"

He chuckled and walked over to me, "Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, there isn't a thing we can do about that. I admit, I am pretty hot. And besides, don't worry about it, it's probably the medicine that's doing it to you anyway. I won't take offense to it at all, it's just the drugs. I know how that goes." He ruffled his hand through Sanosuke's hair.

"That's not it." Sanosuke whispered to himself somberly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Damn, another thing those drugs are doing to you is making you bitchy, what the hell is that about? Come on, man! Just chill out and have fun with the high you're gonna get as soon as you pop these babies in!" He tossed Sanosuke over the other pills he was supposed to be taking.

"Chou!" Sanosuke asserted strongly, reaching out to grab the man's hand.

"Woah, what's up?"

"Chou, I've told you before how much I missed you. And I didn't just miss you in the platonic way, man."

"Is this the little sequel to the shit you were talking about last night?"

"It's not shit, Chou! I mean it! I was dreaming about you, and I admit it, and there isn't a goddamn thing that I can do about it!" Sanosuke knew he probably wasn't making much sense, but he had to keep going. "It's not just the drugs, Chou! I fucking want you."

Chou sat down in the chair across from Sanosuke. "Sano, this ain't the time to be talking about this. Yer hurt and ya just walked out on a relationship you've been in for three years. Yer gonna be looking for someone to comfort you. I'll be your friend now, but I won't be anything else."

"But Chou, that's not fair! I left Saitou 'cause I wanted to come to you. "

"Really?" Asked the blonde. "Then why didn't you leave him sooner?"

"Because he wasn't such a jackass then! He's gotten so much worse than he was when you knew him. I don't know why, but I think I had something to do with it."

"Sano, don't beat yourself up over this shit. He's a jerk and nobody can change that." Chou laughed a little as he remembered something. "Hell, even his wife didn't stay with him for more than a year, you lasted longer than anyone thought you would. "

Sanosuke smiled faintly and looked over at the blonde. "Thanks, Chou. I don't know why I'm saying all this crap, especially to you." He sighed and took a drink of the water that was still sitting on the table near him. "Hey, just so you know, I meant what I was saying about you earlier."

"And I meant it too. You're just lookin' for someone to fill that void Saitou left you with. It's nothing about me. It really isn't." Chou tried to sooth the boy, but it wasn't working.

"Goddamnit, Chou! You're not fucking listening to me!"

"Yeah, I am, I hear you loud and clear!"

"Well, fuck you, Chou, Saitou created that void, he didn't leave me with it! You've always filled it for me! It's always been you, it can't he anyone else!" Sanosuke shouted, slamming his fists down on the couch. "I wish you'd listen! I need you to take me seriously!"

Chou just sat there and looked at the boy, not sure what to think or what to do. "Sano... I just don't want to do anything that you're going to regret later. How do you even know if I still love you?"

Silence took the room.

Sanosuke blinked with his mouth left agape. "Do you still love me...?"

The other man looked hesitant, and Sanosuke shook his head, not liking the silence. "So that's it. Well, now I feel like the biggest douche in the world. Sorry, I'm really fucking sorry, Chou, I'll call someone up to come and get me. I didn't mean to cost you so much trouble."

"Don't do that, Sano. It's not like that."

"Then can you please tell me what it is? I'm fucking tired of being left in the dark! Please just give it to me straight!"

Chou sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sano, this ain't an easy thing to talk about, especially not right now. Why don't we wait until your a little bit healthier and then we can sort this all out."

"I don't want too, Chou!" Exploded the brunette. "I want to fucking talk about this now! Not in a couple of days, not in a week! Now!"

Chou stared at the injured man on his couch and wished there was an easy way out of all this mess. He could tell Sanosuke was upset, very upset, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the medicine or if he really did still have feelings for him. But Chou was sure of one thing, he was going to have to finish this conversation whether he liked it or not.

"Sano, man."

Sanosuke didn't reply, he just stared at Chou in an angry silence.

The blonde continued on, trying to ignore the look. "You've gotta understand tha--"

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted them and they both looked to the phone.

Sanosuke grabbed Chou's arm as he started to get up. "Don't get it, please," he begged.

Chou shook his arm off with a small smile. "Can't do that, Sano. 'M a cop, remember?" He made his way over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

Sanosuke watched his face change to one of chagrin and the blonde looked over at him nervously.

"Uhh, yeah. About that..."

Another pause ensued.

"A friend of mine, I had to be there... no, it's not like that. I promise..."

Chou let out an exasperated sigh.

"I know... I- I'll make it up to you. OK? Sounds good. I'll call you later. Uh-huh... bye."

Chou looked back around to Sano who was still anxiously.

"So..." He started hesitantly. "Who was it? Didn't sound like police work to me..."

"That wasn't someone from the station." The man looked reluctantly around and then chuckled. "Actually, that's what I was just getting down to, Sanosuke. Timing couldn't be anymore perfect."

"What does that mean?"

"That was my girlfriend on the phone." He said with an almost isolated tone.

"Girlfriend?"

"Sanosuke... I couldn't wait around with you forever."

Sanosuke nodded, even though he really didn't understand what was going on. Girlfriend? Since when had Chou been interested in a girlfriend? The last Sanosuke had known, he'd never even looked twice at any women.

"How long have you guys been going out?" He asked quietly, looking down at his hands.

Chou sighed, not liking what he was doing to his friend, but he answered the question anyways. "About six months."

"Oh," said Sanosuke quietly. The two sat for a long moment, neither one really knowing what to say.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sanosuke spoke up again.

"You know, Chou, if it's too much of a problem, I can leave. I can get myself a hotel room somewhere, it's no big deal. I mean, I've got money, I haven't really had to pay for a lot the entire time I was with Saitou. It really isn't a problem, I swear. I don't wanna make you uncomfortable or get you in trouble with your girlfriend." Sanosuke realized that he was babbling, but he couldn't stop himself. He didn't know what to say and when he didn't know what to say he babbled. It was a habit he'd always had and he could never stop himself until some one interrupted him.

Luckily for him, Chou knew this little tidbit of information and he reached a hand out to rest it on Sanosuke's shoulder, effectively breaking his stream of nonsense.

"Sano, relax. You can stay here, it's no big deal. Saori won't mind, I promise. She's a real sweetheart; she won't care if you stay here. Yer hurt and you don't really have anywhere else to go."

Deep down, Sanosuke knew that no girl would really be okay with her boyfriend's ex staying with him and so he decided to say something.

"Does she even know we went out?"

He knew the answer when he saw how red Chou's face turned.

"Chou... does she know?" Sanosuke repeated as he cocked his head.

"Naw... not really. Um, as far as she knows, she thinks that I'm as straight as a board. That's not really something that ever came up, and I didn't really want to bother her with shit like that..." He admitted, shrugging his shoulders and sheepishly looking around the room.

Sanosuke was baffled, "She doesn't know about you like that?!"

"What do you want me to say?! When I get a girl I finally like, after getting over you, should I tell her, "Oh, by the way, the last person I was with was a guy that broke my heart?" And besides, I don't really think that it should be any of your business, Sano." Chou said, not worrying about sounding bitchy.

Sanosuke just blinked. "Sorry that you're so fucking ashamed of me, man."

"Sanosuke, you know that I don't mean that! Just, cut the shit, I told you what's going on, and I can't change around my life now that you wanted to come back!" Chou sighed and buried his head in his hands. "And besides, it's more complicated than that. She doesn't like gays."

Now Sano was really curious. "Then shouldn't you have thought of that before you started going out with her?"

Chou lifted his head up long enough to glare. "I didn't know that when we first started going out. It was a coupla months ago, she told me about how when she was little her dad ran off with some boy toy of his and I guess it really tore her mom apart. I was gonna tell her, but when she said that I decided that it'd probably be better if I didn't."

"Oh," was all Sanosuke could think of to say. Once more the two men fell into an awkward silence, until once more Sanosuke decided to break the ice.

"Hey, Chou. I've got a question."

"Shoot."

"Did you really mean what you said earlier, about me breaking your heart?"

He looked cautious, as if he didn't think the other man was going to bring that up. He shrugged his shoulders and looked around the room with even more of a pause. He wasn't collecting his thoughts; he was trying to delay his response. Just trying to wait it out on the off chance that the man would lose interest.

Knowing that wasn't going to happen, Chou spoke up.

"Sano - you know that I was crazy about you. And you know that you came to me with a lot of your problems when Saitou hurt ya. What could I do when you decided that it was over between us, and you chose that bastard who did nothing but kill you inside? It wasn't even that I didn't think that Saitou was better than me, it was the fact that you didn't love me like I loved you. That hurt, Sano... So, yeah, I guess, the long and short of if was that ya did. I'm not gonna sugar-coat anything else for you. I loved you, you didn't love me. It hurt, I got laid each night to ease the pain away, and then I met Saori. I don't know what else you want from me." He spilt it all, not once making eye contact with the other man.

"Yeah... I know. I'm fucking retarded, and I'm sorry that all this happened. I really shouldn't be here." Sanosuke felt a chill go down his spine. "Maybe I should have just stayed with Saitou... it serves me right to hurt since I fucking hurt you so much..."

"Don't say that!" The other man erupted, "Don't even fucking say that again!"

Sanosuke was taken aback.

"What makes you think that I'd want you to stay with Saitou?! Would I wish that upon anyone let alone you, who I loved? Just..." He trailed off and then looked a little sheepish. "I'm sorry... I just didn't think I'd have to deal with this again... I thought it would be out of my mind forever."

The injured boy looked to the ground, but then picked his attention back up to Chou. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean what I said either. And I'm really glad that this girl is here for you Chou. I'm gonna be really happy for you. And from now on, all you have to do is look at me as your friend, I won't worry about anything more, I promise."

The blonde took a moment and took in a deep breath before looking back and saying a small, "Thank you."

Sanosuke returned the gesture with a smile, but inside his heart was breaking.

End of part


End file.
